WCAS takes Abzena private for £34.4m

The proposed transaction values shares in the business at 16 pence apiece, equivalent to a 167% premium on the 6 pence closing price on 15 August and a 36% premium on the average closing price of 11.8 pence across the past three months.

In addition to the 1.7% stake accounted for by the Abzena board of directors, WCAS has received irrevocable undertakings from shareholders with a combined 76.3% stake in the company, surpassing the acceptance threshold of 75% set out in the offer document.

Abzena (formerly known as PolyTherics and Antitope) has a track record of venture backing and has previously received investment from Touchstone Innovations, Mercia Fund Management, Catapult Venture Managers, Beringea, YFM Equity Partners and Invesco Perpetual.

The two businesses merged in 2013 and listed the following year in a £20m IPO. The group has since expanded into the US by acquiring PacificGMP in San Diego and TCRS in Bristol, near Philadelphia. It raised a further £20m via a private placement in December 2015.

Technology- and healthcare-focused investor WCAS was recently reported to be targeting $3.75bn for its 13th fund, a considerable increase on the $3bn targeted for its predecessor vehicle.

Company
Abzena is headquartered in Cambridge and provides outsourced services to the biopharmaceutical industry, from the drug discovery stage through to the manufacturing phase. The company has additional laboratories and manufacturing sites in the US, and generated a turnover of £22m in the year ending in March 2018 with an adjusted EBITDA loss of £12m.

People
Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe – Jonathan Goldman (operating partner); Brian Regan (general partner).
Abzena – Ken Cunningham (chairman); John Burt (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Ropes & Gray (legal); Peel Hunt (corporate finance).
Company – Pinsent Masons (legal); N+1 (corporate finance).

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